Montelena Vertical

We had a wonderful evening of stimulating conversation, a great dinner and some impressive wines.

The '99 Estate Cabernet started things off. Still a vibrant color, deep cassis with fresh soil, cedar and a light floral note on the nose, layered and complex. Ripe red fruit, blueberries and a hint of green peppercorns on the palate with fine tannins and perfectly balanced acidity. Medium bodied with a long gently tapering and focused finish. This was a beautiful wine approaching it's prime.

Second up was the '01 Estate Cabernet. Ruby color with a brick edge. Red fruit, leather and light vanilla on the nose. Medium bodied with firm tannins, food appropriate acidity and a solid finish.....five years away from maturity, this wine will develop and shine.

The third pour was the '01 Napa Valley Cabernet. Intense color, big fruit nose of cranberry, cherry, cassis and a slight licorice component. Medium bodied with noticably present alcohol on the back of the palate. Pronounced acidity and frisky tannins, slightly out of balance with a shorter finish. Still pleasant but not in the league with the estate Cabs.

Next was the '02 Estate Cabernet. Deep pure color, Cassis, mushroom, leather, cedar and light vanilla on the nose...the oak is very much in check. Full bodied with concentrated pure fruit on the palate and nose. Long finish, refined tannins, balanced acidity.....this is a big wine with grace and control.

The fifth pour was the '03 Estate Cabernet. This one was a little hard to judge, young and a bit closed down right now. Solid tannins, crisp acidity, well crafted out of a tricky vintage....will come back to this one in a few years.

We finished with the '04 Napa Valley Cabernet. Simple nose of plum and rasin. Slightly tart with a mid palate that drops out and pops back to a short finish. The least impressive wine of the night.

My personal favorite of the night was the '02 but opinions varied significantly with each wine of the evening getting at least one first place vote.

Chateau Montelena Estate Cabernet

Kevin is putting together a vertical of Chateau Montelena Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, it will be a pricy tasting but well worth it for a memorable evening tasting some highly sought after Napa cult Cabs. The wines are retailing between $100 and $150 a bottle but Kevin is putting together some killer pricing. This tasting deserves some stellar food pairings as well…..
Menu
Morilles a la crème
Beef Consommé
Steak Au Poivre & Haricots Verts
Fromage et Fruits

Red Blends, April WSG Tasting

Tonight we tasted 5 red blends with mixed results. The 5 wines were: Kaesler, Avignon 2004, Australia, Barossa Valley. Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe, Châteauneuf-du-Pape “La Crau” 2004. Reynolds Family Winery, Persistence 2004, Napa Valley. Whitman Cellars, Narcissa Red 2003, Walla Walla. Orin Swift, The Prisoner 2005, Napa Valley.

The Kaesler Avignon was the clear disappointment of the evening from a simple fake fruit focused palate to the "hot" finish....poorly executed and overpriced Australian plonk.
The Prisoner was a solid effort with concentrated dark fruit focus and decent balance, it was overshadowed by some stellar wines and might have done better in different company.
The Telegraphe Chateauneuf was a very approachable and adaptable wine, it needs a few more years in the cellar but will age very gracefully and will improve over time. Tonight it was still very pleasant but probably underperformed considering it's price.
The Whitman Cellars Narcissa was a killer wine especially at the $20 price point. Nothing to complain about with this wine, nice balance, clear and pure fruit flavors, beautiful finish and a seamless balance between the fruit, acidity, tannins and finish. This wine should be on a lot more wine lists than it is, seek it out and stock up.
Finally, the Reynold's Family Winery 2004 Persistence. This wine killed it. Nearly perfect from start to finish. Very complex nose of cassis, blackberry, veggies, vanilla, mild oak, leather and licorice. The palate translated parallel to the nose transitioning from dark fruit to veggies and back to fruit, caramel, vanilla and cream. Beautiful tannin structure and no heat from the alcohol. At $40 to $50 this wine is worth stocking up on.....it is no wall flower and will not disappoint in any company that appreciates well crafted wine.
All in all, an excellent line up tonight (with the exception of the Australian contingent). Looking forward to next month and a vertical of Montelena Estate Cabs.
Drink what you like and like what you drink.......don't look at ratings or listen to the critics and certinally don't listen to me. Cheers.

Upcoming WSG Meetings

April 3rd will be an evening of sampling red blends at Christian & Lacy's. May 1st will be hosted By Scott & Heather Hill (up Grizzly Gulch about 3 miles, get us a map Scott). June 5th we will be returning to Tim & Piper's for Sauvignon Blanc. July will take us to Little West-Side Italy at Matt & Jan's for Pinot Grigio. Get your request in if you're interested in hosting August.

Dunham Cellars at cafe Artemis

Kudos to cafe Artemis, Marc Jorgensen and Eric Dunham for a beautifully executed evening. Zoe and Martin were as engaging as ever seamlessly integrating the evenings progression. All five courses were beautifully matched to the Dunham wines.
The first pairing was a pear and watercress salad with the '06 "Shirley Mays" Chardonnay. The Chardonnay displayed serious mineral components with clean fruit and an old world Burgundian focus. The toasted baguette and candied walnuts of the salad brought the "New World" attributes back full circle.
The second course paired haricot verts with crisp pancetta along side the Dunham "Three Legged Red." The red blend is a broadly appealing strait forward table wine that would be extremely versatile with a wide range of cuisine and would be a crowd pleaser at any gathering. Nothing exceptional to mention but it has more character and depth of most wines in it's price point.
Our third duo was a Coq au Vin with the Trutina blend (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah and Cabernet Franc). The Trutina is an extremely approachable Washington blend with a light dose of oak and very pleasant cherry, raspberry and black fruit notes. Once again, this would be a broadly appealing bottle to bring to a wine or dinner party.
The fourth course served was Rack of Lamb with Pomegranate and Sour Cherry Reduction accompanied by the Dunham 2004 Syrah. This was in my opinion the best pairing of the night with the reduction of dark fruit, tar, leather, vanilla and tobacco notes of the Syrah backing and elevating the lamb with pomegranate reduction. The syrah displayed a seamless, long finish of fine grained tannins and pepper spice components that was quite impressive. I also had the opportunity during the evening to taste the '02 Dunham Syrah which was truly spectacular, this wine goes deep with blackberry, currant, red licorice, tar, tobacco and pepper. The finish is over three minutes long, it reminds me of ridiculously priced Napa cult wines that are built to go it alone, swirling and sniffing in the presence of exceptional company capping a perfect evening. This bottle would stand up to any unctuous and opulent dish or stand perfectly well on it's own, find some if you can.
Finally, we were served an Apricot and Marscarpone Tart with the Dunham 2006 “Four-Legged White”. The tart was not at all cloyingly sweet and had a harmonious frame of almond custard with fresh apricot fruit. The Four-Legged white was 100% Riesling which was like a liquid peach tart....just like grandma used to make (grandma was a Belgian pastry chef). Georgia peaches....great finish.

March Meeting BYOFB Night

Thank you Tim & Piper for hosting a an evening of great conversation and interesting wines. We tasted five wines (blind), each was a favorite of the couple who brought them. We knew nothing about any of the wines (except for the one we brought if able to identify it) and graded them before the reveal. The five were: Sausal 2002 Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (100% Cabernet Sauvignon), Gagliardo 2005 Dolcetto D'Alba, Verve 2005 Pinot Noir Russian River Valley, Saviah Cellars 2005 Big Sky Cuvee (Columbia Valley, 57% Merlot, 24% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Cabernet Franc, 3% Malbec, 2%Petit Verdot) and Ladera 2004 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (89% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Petit Verdot, 3% Merlot).
Of the five there were two clear favorites: The Ladera Cab scored the highest while the Saviah Cuvee was the crowd favorite. The Ladera was a little young to drink and the tannins were a bit to dominant but the layers of fruit and extremely long finish were a promise of things to come in the cellar. It was made of a blend of fruit from Ladera's Howell Mountain and Lone Canyon vineyards, it's an intense, extracted Napa Cab. Red currant, blackberry, vanilla and cedar were evident on the nose and palate......nice wine. The Saviah Big Sky Cuvee was much more restrained, masterfully crafted and displayed deep currant aromas and flavors with a solid but balanced dose of oak. Once again Washington state rocked the house, this Cuvee was great on its own but will also pair beautifully with a huge range of food. Looking forward to the Walla Walla trip this October.

For the April meeting we are thinking vertically, details to follow.

Jessup Cellars 2003 Napa Cabernet

The 2003 Jessup Cellars Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon was outstanding. I decanted it for a few hours, re-bottled and took it to dinner at cafe Artemis to pair with a Chateaubriand for two. The food and atmosphere were fantastic and the Jessup Cab seriously impressed me. It had a opulent nose of currant, cherry, vanilla and cedar with a little mint, licorice and earth. The body was full from start to finish, which was very long and immensely enjoyable. The tannic structure was firm without overwhelming the wine's other attributes like nicely balanced acidity and lush dark fruit flavors. This wine is worth seeking out from the winery and I believe it will cellar nicely over the next decade.

BYOFB

Greeting WSGers,
Tim and Piper have offered to host the March meeting of the WSG, the theme is BYOFB.....that's "Bring Your Own Favorite Bottle". Each couple/person brings a bottle of one of their favorite wines to taste through: i.e.. Pinot Noir, Merlot, Syrah, Zinfandel, Cabernet, Bordeaux, Burgundy, White Zinfandel, Brunello, Tempranillo, etc., etc...Anything goes and at any price point. No dues this night since the admission is the bottle you bring. This isn't an impress your friends event so bring what you really enjoy drinking. Everyone will get to present the bottle they bring. Tim and Piper, you get to make up any special rules for the evening you would like, let us know. Due to sheduling conflicts this month's meeting will be on Wednesday, March 5th at 8:00, Tim, Piper and Delaney's house. More details will follow.

Tapas & Tempranillo

Our tasting was held at the Quarry Bar (adjacent to cafe Artemis in the Park Plaza Hotel) on February 7th at 8:00. Thank you Zoe for hosting, Kevin for your great info on the wines and Marc for the fantasatic Tapas. We sampled 5 wines:
Lena, Tinto, 2005, Spain
Mapena Tempranillo, Argentina, 2005
Dominio de Atuata Ribera Del Duero, 2004
Finca Villacreces Ribera Del Duero, 2004
Conde de Valdemar Crianza, 2003
The Lena was a why bother wine, the Mapena a quaffable one, the Dominio solid but overpriced, the Villacreces an age worthy, balanced crowd pleaser and the Valdemar good but forgetable. Overall, these wines were well crafted, approachable and great food wines with enough acidity and tannic structure to go with a wide range of cusine. The night didn't change my life but will make me look at the Tempranillos on wine lists a little more closely in the future.
Sunday night with dinner, Tim brought a 2003 Altano Douro Reserva that would have trumped any of the wines in the tasting for about 1/3 the price of the Villacreces. Portugal in particular is putting out some big and impressive wines at very reasonable prices (if you can find them).

2003 Whitman Cellars Narcissa Red

I don't often rate or review individual wines but this one merited one due to it's very interesting nose dominated by "Play-doh". I've smelled V8, Band-aids, mouth wash, coke syrup, wet dog, diesel fuel, poop and heaven knows what else on the nose of wines in the past but this was a first. Over all the wine was fairly well balanced, had nice black fruit up front with a tapering mid palate and decent finish of red currant and licorice. It may have been a little soft on acid to pair well with most foods but some nice tannins were present and were smoothly integrated. For the Play-doh nose alone, this wine is worth a try, interesting and enjoyable for an affordable W2 wine. The more I drink Washington wines the more I appreciate the New/Old World balance they bring to the glass. There aren't many spectacular under $25.00 Washington bargains to be had due to the limited amount of fruit available and competition for it but I would put a lot of $40.00 Walla Walla reds up against the same from Napa (I'm a Napa fan) and they will shine. Try more Washington reds and drink outside the box. Happy New Year.